Justin Cooney

Web Development Tips and Examples

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about

I am a Senior Applications Programmer / Analyst with years of experience developing enterprise solutions using the Microsoft technology stack including C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET, AJAX, IIS and SQL Server. I specialize in Web application development with a focus on building secure systems, integrating applications, and designing robust database structures.

  • Gamigo Database Hacked & User Data Compromised

    July 23 2012: Last March I posted an article about the Gamigo system compromise that happened on March 2 2012. I wasn’t too happy since I have a Gamigo account as well.

    Since the compromise happened there has been no news about the compromised information, but it looks like the people responsible haven’t given up causing problems for Gamigo players.

    Initially the compromised data was not published by those responsible, but now the full list of 8.2 million email addresses, user-names, and 11 million encrypted passwords (thankfully still hashed) has been published on a hacking site.

    Gamigo did force a password reset for all accounts after the event in March, but hackers are likely to try tracking down and compromising related user accounts on different sites, so it’s definitely a good idea to change one’s passwords anywhere one might have re-used one’s Gamigo user-name/password combination.

    March 2 2012: The latest news is that in the past day(s) Gamigo user accounts have been compromised and information has been stolen by unknown attackers. The details of the attack are not yet known, but Gamigo assures users that payment information is safe. However the other information, possibly including user passwords has been compromised.

    It’s my understanding that the compromise happened March 2 2012, and the Gamigo account login functionality was down for several days afterwards.

    (more…)

  • ASP.NET Overview of Binding a DropDownList to a FormView

    If you use (or want to use) .NET WebForms databinding then you know that dropdown lists can be tricky to populate and mange. For example, say you have a FormView control with an embedded DropDownList control that you want to bind and pre-select when someone views the form. It’s not immediately intuitive how to do so, but it’s really quite straightforward.

    Here’s how: (more…)

  • No-SQL vs Relational Databases Overview

    There is a lot of hype around No-SQL databases, even to the point where people are saying that the relational database (RDBMS) model is obsolete. I develop corporate applications and use relational databases to do this, so the talk about how relational databases are obsolete has prompted me to look further into both technologies.

    At the most basic level people make the mistake of assuming that it’s a one or the other arguement. This sort of thinking is incorrect though. No-SQL is not a replacement for relational databases and the two technologies are designed to address very different issues.

    (more…)